Florida's I-4 Corridor across the center of the state...called a "microcosm"

[madfloridian]

by Mason-Dixon. I know there is a lot of campaigning here by both sides, but I have some doubts about the inland more rural portions of the corridor being ready for change from their staunch Republican background.

Maybe the coastal counties, maybe Orlando, but not so sure about the rest of it.

This is an interesting summation of the varying views. I guess there is some change going on.

Florida's I-4 corridor is key election battleground

''Someone suggested to me that the whole thing could come down to a couple square blocks in downtown Tampa, and that's not out of the question,'' said Richard Scher, a University of Florida professor, who calculated that the 12 counties hugging I-4 host 38 percent of the state's independent voters. The latest statewide polls tell a familiar story, with the Republican nominee dominating the northern part of the state and the Democrat carrying the more liberal southern end, leaving the state's heterogeneous midsection up for grabs.

"I-4 is a little bit of South Florida, a little bit of North Florida, a little bit of Yankee transplants, and a little bit of old South rednecks," said Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker. ``It may be the best microcosm of Florida."

Coker was right about the Old South rednecks, but he failed to mention the fundamentalist culture across the corridor. Southern Baptist churches dominate as well as Assembly of God and megachurches. They will vote Republican, I can guarantee. Not all, but most.

It is ingrained into their minds.

More from some of the interviews by the Miami Herald across the Corridor.

In this politically charged climate, debate over the candidates erupts spontaneously between a white hot dog vendor and an elderly black woman on a park bench in Lakeland, and between a Hispanic tow-truck driver and his passengers stranded around Orlando. Local television is awash in campaign attack ads.

....Reflecting Obama's upswing in the polls, The Miami Herald's drive down I-4 found a number of Republicans and independents who weren't ready to commit to McCain or favored Obama. The trip also revealed an undercurrent of racism -- although always secondhand -- with a handful of voters volunteering that people they know are uneasy about the first black presidential nominee.

"Some people I talk to where I live are still on the racial side and wouldn't vote for him no matter what," said Pauline Dishinger, 64, who was loading pickles into her red basket at the Parkesdale Farm Market in Plant City, another frequent stomping ground for candidates. Farther west in Lakeland, which has a large black community, it's easy to find Obama supporters. Pat Moore, 52, broke into a wide smile at the mention of his name as she hurried back to her job after a lunch break.

"Tomorrow is payday, so I splurged," said Moore, who had treated herself to a Filet-O-Fish meal from McDonald's. "I believe Obama can relate to middle-class America and what we're going through."

I did not realize how much Obama had done in this area. I see a lot of his ads on TV, but he has concentrated on the Tampa area. Accordiing to the article, Obama has "has poured $7.8 million into television ads in Tampa Bay and the Orlando area -- more than half of his spending statewide... McCain has spent about $2.6 million in Central Florida, out of a total of $3.2 million."

[madfloridian]

1. More on this corridor from the Guardian. Smiles for Obama.

All smiles for Obama in the sunshine state


Barack Obama talks to locals at an Irish pub in Clearwater, Florida. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty

A worldwide economic crisis can make a lot of difference to a voter. Or at least it has done to Isabelle Murawski. For the past two elections, the pensioner has reliably voted for George W Bush, casting her ballot in Florida's Broward County, one of the epicentres of the voting debacle that saw Bush win the White House in 2000.

But now Murawski is going to vote for Barack Obama. 'I am supporting Obama, I think,' she said, while strolling in Florida's warm sunshine in the coastal resort town of Hollywood. 'It's the economy first and foremost. Everyone I know is worried about their pensions.'

..."Now eight years of Republican rule could end in the very same state where they began. 'I think a lot of Democrats in Florida would finally feel vindicated,' said DeHaven-Smith.

The key to winning in Florida is a 132-mile stretch of busy road known as Interstate 4, or I-4. The road cuts across the heart of the state, stretching from Tampa Bay to Daytona Beach. It is both the literal and metaphorical middle ground of Florida politics. It bridges the gap between the Republican core of northern Florida, which is very much a part of the conservative Deep South, and the large Democrat-leaning cities of the south-east, such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

This so-called 'I-4 corridor' is home to most of Florida's independent voters and is some of the hardest contested political turf in the whole of America. At its heart is the sprawling city of Orlando and the fierce battle that is being waged there seems to be being won by Obama. Certainly Terrence Golden, a kitchen manager at an Orlando restaurant, is backing Obama. He is one of the hundreds of thousands of transplants to the I-4 corridor who have come south seeking jobs and sunshine and was in no doubt as to where his vote was going. 'McCain is more of the same - just look at all the mess they have created already. We need a change,' he said.

The reporter gives a word of caution.

Florida was the state that broke Democrats' hearts in 2000 after a heart-stopping recount favoured George W Bush over Al Gore. Eight years later Barack Obama is surging ahead in the polls, and his supporters are dreaming of revenge in one of the crucial battlegrounds of the election.

[madfloridian]

2. Obama wins surrogate war in Florida. Many in this area.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2008/10/obama-easily-wi.html

"Need evidence that Barack Obama has been working harder than John McCain to stir up energy and excitement in the Sunshine State? Consider the emissaries that the campaigns have dispatched for Florida campaign events over the last couple of weeks.McCain-Palin surrogates in Florida: Lt. Col. Orson Swindle, former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer and retired Air Force Col. Tom Moe participated in a three day veterans bus tour for McCain two weeks ago.

Obama-Biden surrogates (partial list): Bill Clinton; Michelle Obama and Jill Biden; former New York Mayor Ed Koch; actor Forest Whitaker; actor Cynthia Nixon; retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration; former White House antiterrorism adviser Richard Clarke; Miami Heat basketball player Alonzo Mourning; NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing; actor Tyler Perry; Bronx borough president Adolfo Carrion; Grammy winner Olga Tanon.

Today and Monday Jay-Z and Wyclef Jean will hold "Last Chance for Change" concerts in Miami for Obama to push people to register to vote by Monday's deadline, while the McCain campaign sends its biggest gun — Sarah Palin — for a two-day campaign swing starting in Clearwater Monday. Joe Biden returns to FL Wed."

The Buzz forgot the lovely Diedre Hall.

[Aviation Pro]

3. Deland - Deltona - Apopka - Orlando......

...Winter Garden - Lakeland - Tampa.

This will be where Senator Obama captures Florida.

[madfloridian]

4. Not sure about Lakeland or Polk....

We don't hang around with the ones who love Palin, but trust me they must.

A doctor told me today that 3 of the 10 people he had seen today were raving about how wonderful she was. Apparently he got pretty outspoken and asked them why she was so wonderful. Sort of she's just like us sort of stuff.

He told them that was not good enough, that he did not want someone "just like us" being president.

People are angry round here, but they have been so brainwashed they don't know who should be the target of their anger.

[Joe Chi Minh]

5. Until this moment, I'd found it too difficut to believe people could be so

so foolishly unworldly when their very survival was at risk. We are supposed to be as wise as serpents, as well as being as innocent as doves. I'm dumbfounded. Even so, I still think many, many more people have woken up to what's at stake.

When they're voting Democrat, they may feel they're doing their guy a favour. It's the impression that the candidate will want to give, too. But they are not. He will be doing them favours, as long as they allow him to, and provided that the Republican election fraud and voter suppression can be made too difficult to beat the Democrats' numbers.

[madfloridian]

6. They've been dumbed down to "you betcha" stuff and "joe six pack" thinking.

They want a president to be just like them...terrifying thought.

[Mugweed]

8. As a Central FL resident...

I travel all over the I-4 corridor on a daily basis. I've had an Obama '08 sticker on my car for months on end. I put it there long before I knew who he was picking as the VP candidate. I knew he was smart enough not to pick an idiot and trusted his judgement. At the same time, I saw very few McCain stickers on people's cars. It was only AFTER McCain picked this bumpkin every-woman for VP that I started seeing the stickers everywhere. It's crazy how people weren't quite on board for McCain as President because he wasn't quite qualified, but are all for it now that he has the much-less-qualified Palin as VP choice. I can't understand the idiots who live around here.

Dumbed down? They started dumb, there isn't much more "down" to go.

[Joiwind]

9. Hmm m- I'm Central Florida, White, A/G, Pro-Life

...and I'm voting for Obama.

The stakes are just too damned high. We can discuss the other stuff when we get our country back; like Americans, with passion but with respect.

Obama is the first person since Jimmy Carter who seemed to me that he wanted to be the President of the United States, rather than the CEO of the Federal Government.

[Kermitt Gribble]

12. "Obama is the first person since Jimmy Carter

who seemed to me that he wanted to be the President of the United States, rather than the CEO of the Federal Government."

That's a great statement!

Welcome to DU!

[MooseGoose]

11. Deltona here. I noticed the same.

Obama stickers have been around for a while, with virtually no McCain stickers at all until the Palin pick. Shortly after the Republican convention it seemed the McCain-Palin's were starting to outnumber the Obama's, but lately it looks more even. In a land that used to be covered with the ubiquitous "W" that's an encouraging sign.

[JohnnyCougar]

14. I am a team captain in Polk

There are a bunch of crazies here, but there are also a lot of people horrified at the thought of Palin. We've been registering tons of Democratic voters even here, and also at work I am working on converting some undecideds.

The swing voters that we are calling or knocking are supporting Obama about 2:1, though. This county has far more registered D than R, but many of those are the conservative types that haven't voted for a Democrat for President since Carter.

[nytemare]

7. I wouldn't think he would have a problem with Orange county

It went for Kerry in 04, although there are some pockets of Rednecks. Osceola may turn a little more purple, maybe blue. Polk and Lake may have pockets go blue, but the whole counties, I imagine, will go red.

Good thing is, counties don't have electoral votes, it's just who wins, and many new registrants are Dems. They just need to make it to the polls!

:hi:

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. I'm seeing more Obama bumper stickers in my Republican Cty,

than McCain. Thought the McCain-Palin stickers are beginning to show up.

I saw one today with W's face and the caption read, "First retarded president in US History."

I don't think that was a nice thing to say about the mentally handicapped.

[Kermitt Gribble]

13. Driving around Pinellas County

the Obama bumper stickers greatly outnumber the McNasty bumper stickers. I'm even starting to see a few on redneck pickup trucks.

Riding my bicycle around the beach neighborhoods, however, McNasty yard signs outnumber Obama yard signs. Of course, most are in front of the multi-million dollar homes.